She was following up a tip that penalty points had been wiped from Callinan's driving record. It came against the background of allegations by police whistleblowers that hundreds of people had also had penalty points removed from their licences.

But Stephen Rae, editor-in-chief of the Dublin-based Independent titles (and a former editor of the Garda Review magazine), was furious with O'Doherty. He called her a "rogue reporter" for approaching Callinan without permission.

In fact, the Irish Post is one of the very few newspapers to have reported the details of O'Doherty's firing. Ireland's domestic mainstream newspapers and its major broadcaster, RTÉ, ignored the story.

Callinan told a Dublin parliamentary committee that the claims about penalty points deductions by the whistleblowers - Sergeant Maurice McCabe and the now-retired John Wilson - were "disgusting".

But a report by the independent Garda Inspectorate considered McCabe's information to be "credible" and found that there were consistent and widespread breaches of policy by those charged with administering the penalty points system.

Comment: A journalist was interrupted in her duty to inform the public about a scandal involving a state's police force. Isn't that the whole point of our journalistic mission? Should she have been fired for that?

In the light of today's developments and the report by the independent Garda Inspectorate, it is surely time for Stephen Rae to consider his position and for Independent News & Media to consider reinstating O'Doherty. At the very least, Rae's links with Callinan and the Gardai require internal and external investigation.